LBC charts product, network expansion

MANILA, Philippines - LBC Express Holdings Inc. is looking to expand its product offerings and local reach in the next two years in anticipation of a surge in demand for logistics and e-commerce activities, its top official said.

LBC president and COO Miguel Camahort said the local logistics market would be driven by customized logistics, e-commerce activities and the introduction of new technologies and systems in freight forwarding, which the company would take advantage of.

“True to our leadership culture, we intend to be the frontrunner in these new developments, and steer the industry towards new growth opportunities,” he said.

Camahort said last month the company is earmarking P200 million in the next two years to diversify its services into warehousing, procurement, inventory, consolidation and cold storage.

“Our continued expansion lends itself to building trust and ensuring convenience, for both our loyal customers and our ever growing team. It’s part of a long-standing commitment to provide the kind of service our kababayans deserve. And we will go on to find new ways to innovate our product offerings to ensure our service truly deliver value and answers their needs,” the company official said.

Citing latest industry figures, LBC said it maintains its leadership in the Philippine domestic air freight forwarding market with a 40 percent market share in terms of throughput by weight.

To widen its reach, the company is opening at least 70 new branches this year and another 60 new branches for 2017, LBC senior vice president for Philippine retail operations Oliver Valentin said.

It has 1,300 branches as of the end-of June, based on its latest financial report.

The branch expansion will allow the company to meet the inbound and outbound logistics needs of Filipinos as a result of opening up of trade and commerce in the ASEAN market, Camahort said.

“The recent implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community framework is seen to open up trade and commerce between all members of the ASEAN,” he said.

“This increase in regional economic activity – including access to manpower, raw materials, and other resources – will also mean increased demand for efficient and on-time logistics. With our investments to improve service infrastructure, we are more than ready to meet the incoming demand,” Camahort said.

LBC provides courier and freight forwarding services for individual and corporate customers, inbound remittance services originating from the US, Canada, the Asia Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East, and over-the-counter collection and payment collection.